Recently it has come to my attention through criticism that my previous blog post on the Latin exegetical tradition of Matthew 16: 18-19 does not accurately take into account the Catholic Church’s position of Peter as the Rock and the keeper of the keys. Before getting into the exact details of these rather strange arguments against me, the relevant passage of the Catholic Church’s catechism should be quoted:

553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). 287 The “power of the keys” designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17; 10:11). 288 The power to “bind and loose” connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles 289 and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom. (881, 1445, 641, 881)

Now, what has been alleged against me is that I did not represent the Catholic view accurately. I claimed that the Catholic Church based its office of the papacy on primarily two things: 1.) that Peter was the rock and 2.) that Peter alone held the keys. Several mutually exclusive arguments have been levered against me in order to incorporate my previous blog post as compatible with the current teachings of the Catholic Church. These arguments mostly concern the latter point, that is the keys. These arguments are:

1.) That the Catholic Church does in fact teach that the rest of the apostles and hence bishops hold the keys, but they hold them through Peter, that is the papacy.

2.) That all of the apostles received the keys directly from Christ, however, the office of the papacy is not based upon an exclusive holding of the keys but rather that Peter is the Rock in addition to the fact that Christ first directly gave both the keys and the powers of binding and loosing to Peter, then to the rest of the apostles.

I will address these arguments in their respective order. In addition to my rebuttal of the second argument, I will also make the point that it itself is contrary to Catholic dogma.

The Apostles Have the Keys Through Peter?

First off, I think my original blog post on the matter adequately addressed the idea of having the keys through Peter. The Catechism alludes to this, and my blog post in quite specific detail showed that the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven were given directly to the rest of the apostles, according to some of the Latin writers. Now I do acknowledge that the main focus of my previous blog post was upon the concept of Peter alone being the Rock. Hence, as a result only a few of the writers spoke directly about the keys. Therefore, I wish to summarize some of what I’ve already said about the keys in my previous blog post, in addition to providing new evidence that they were given to the rest of the apostles. Most importantly, I wish to show that these keys were given directly to the other apostles by Christ, not through Peter.

[That] the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are for discerning knowledge, and the power which receives the worthy into the Kingdom, and excludes the unworthy ought to be understood. And whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. This [applies] as much to Peter as to the all of the apostles and their successors, who hold the same office rightly we lend permission, because he himself appears to them after the passion, saying: Receive the Holy Spirit; every sin that you forgive are forgiven; and every sin that you retain are retained…

Christian of Stavelot quite clearly states that the keys are intimately related to the powers of binding and loosing. Furthermore, he states that this gifting of power applies just as much to Peter as to the rest of the apostles and their successors in accordance with John 20: 19-23. Hrabanus Maurus also says much the same in the following: “The keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are themselves for discerning the knowledge and power that he names, with which the worthy ought to be received into the kingdom, while the unworthy ought to be secluded from the kingdom (Commentary on Matthew in Eight Books: PL 107: 992A).” These two men speak of the keys as having to do directly with binding and loosing of sins. In other words, they are the same. Therefore, when Hrabanus Maurus later says “[This power] is given to the rest of the apostles, witness yourself, he who after his passion and resurrection appears to them in triumph breathed and said to all: Receive the Holy Spirit….” In short, the other apostles receive the keys directly from Christ, not through Peter. This position is also reflected in the writings of Jerome:

If, however, Jovinianus should obstinately contend that John was not a virgin, (whereas we have maintained that his virginity was the cause of the special love our Lord bore to him), let him explain, if he was not a virgin, why it was that he was loved more than the other Apostles. But you say, Matthew 16:18 the Church was founded upon Peter: although elsewhere the same is attributed to all the Apostles, and they all receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the strength of the Church depends upon them all alike, yet one among the twelve is chosen so that when a head has been appointed, there may be no occasion for schism.

The red is the argument of Jovian, while the blue is Jerome’s. Jerome clearly endorses a primate-like leadership position within the church, an idea and practice the Orthodox Church has never disputed. However, he quite clearly states that later in the Gospels, all of the apostles receive the keys. Since Jerome is referring to the Gospels, consequently this bestowal of the keys must come from Christ since he is referring to the Gospels. Augustine of Hippo believed likewise:

7. Let no one, however, separate these distinguished apostles. In that which was signified by Peter, they were both alike; and in that which was signified by John, they will both be alike hereafter. In their representative character, the one was following, the other tarrying; but in their personal faith they were both of them enduring the present evils of the misery here, both of them expecting the future good things of the blessedness to come. And such is the case, not with them alone, but with the holy universal Church, the spouse of Christ, who has still to be rescued from the present trials, and to be preserved in the future happiness. And these two states of life were symbolized by Peter and John, the one by the one, the other by the other; but in this life they both of them walked for a time by faith, and the other they shall both of them enjoy eternally by sight. For the whole body of the saints, therefore, inseparably belonging to the body of Christ, and for their safe pilotage through the present tempestuous life, did Peter, the first of the apostles, receive the keys of the kingdom of heaven for the binding and loosing of sins; and for the same congregation of saints, in reference to the perfect repose in the bosom of that mysterious life to come did the evangelist John recline on the breast of Christ. For it is not the former alone but the whole Church, that binds and looses sins; nor did the latter alone drink at the fountain of the Lord’s breast, to emit again in preaching, of the Word in the beginning, God with God, and those other sublime truths regarding the divinity of Christ, and the Trinity and Unity of the whole Godhead. which are to be yet beheld in that kingdom face to face, but meanwhile till the Lord’s coming are only to be seen in a mirror and in a riddle; but the Lord has Himself diffused this very gospel through the whole world, that every one of His own may drink thereat according to his own individual capacity. There are some who have entertained the idea— and those, too, who are no contemptible handlers of sacred eloquence— that the Apostle John was more loved by Christ on the ground that he never married a wife, and lived in perfect chastity from early boyhood. There is, indeed, no distinct evidence of this in the canonical Scriptures: nevertheless it is an idea that contributes not a little to the suitableness of the opinion expressed above, namely, that that life was signified by him, where there will be no marriage.

In the red segment above, Augustine, just like Hrabanus Maurus and Christian of Stavelot believed that the keys and the powers of binding and loosing were synonymous. The blue segment is Augustine clearly stating the entire Church has these keys. Now the Catholic might argue that the Church indeed does have these keys, but through Peter. This interpretation of Augustine is not possible, because earlier Augustine said the following:

The Church’s love, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, discharges the sins of all who are partakers with itself, but retains the sins of those who have no participation therein. Therefore it is, that after saying “Receive the Holy Ghost, (John 20: 22-23)” He straightway added this regarding the remission and retention of sins.

Augustine clearly acknowledges that the powers of binding and loosing were given to the apostles. While a Catholic might object that this does not apply to the keys, it has already been established that within the same exact work of Augustine’s, the keys are the very same as the powers of binding and loosing. And if there be any doubt about Augustine’s intentions, let us look at the following:

12. But what follows? “For the poor you have always with you, but me ye will not have always” (John 12:8). We can certainly understand, “the poor you have always;” what He has thus said is true. When were the poor wanting in the Church? “But me ye will not have always;” what does He mean by this? How are we to understand, “Me ye will not have always?” Don’t be alarmed: it was addressed to Judas. Why, then, did He not say, “you will have,” but, “ye will have?” Because Judas is not here a unit. One wicked man represents the whole body of the wicked; in the same way as Peter, the whole body of the good, yea, the body of the Church, but in respect to the good. For if in Peter’s case there were no sacramental symbol of the Church, the Lord would not have said to him, I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven (Matthew 16:19). If this was said only to Peter, it gives no ground of action to the Church. But if such is the case also in the Church, that what is bound on earth is bound in heaven, and what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven,— for when the Church excommunicates, the excommunicated person is bound in heaven; when one is reconciled by the Church, the person so reconciled is loosed in heaven:— if such, then, is the case in the Church, Peter, in receiving the keys, represented the holy Church. If, then, in the person of Peter were represented the good in the Church, and in Judas’ person were represented the bad in the Church, then to these latter was it said, But me ye will not have always. But what means the not always; and what, the always? If you are good, if you belong to the body represented by Peter, you have Christ both now and hereafter: now by faith, by sign, by the sacrament of baptism, by the bread and wine of the altar.

It is important to note with the highlighted and underlined blue segment that Augustine clearly defines both Peter and the Church. Peter is his person alone and the Church is more than his person. Augustine clearly states that the keys were not given to Peter alone because otherwise the Church is without power to act. Therefore, Peter was representative of the whole Church. The keys thus were not given to Peter’s person alone, but rather to the whole Church. Augustine reiterates this point in his final tractate on the Gospel of John:

So does the Church act in blessed hope through this troublous life; and this Church symbolized in its generality, was personified in the Apostle Peter, on account of the primacy of his apostleship. For, as regards his proper personality, he was by nature one man, by grace one Christian, by still more abounding grace one, and yet also, the first apostle; but when it was said to him, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven,” he represented the universal Church,which in this world is shaken by divers temptations, that come upon it like torrents of rain, floods and tempests, and falleth not, because it is founded upon a rock (petra), from which Peter received his name. For petra (rock) is not derived from Peter, but Peter from petra; just as Christ is not called so from the Christian, but the Christian from Christ. For on this very account the Lord said, “On this rock will I build my Church,” because Peter had said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” On this rock, therefore, He said, which thou hast confessed, I will build my Church. For the Rock (Petra) was Christ; and on this foundation was Peter himself also built. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus.The Church, therefore, which is rounded in Christ received from Him the keys of the kingdom of heaven in the person of Peter, that is to say, the power of binding and loosing sins. For what the Church is essentially in Christ, such representatively is Peter in the rock (petra); and in this representation Christ is to be understood as the Rock, Peter as the Church.This Church, accordingly, which Peter represented, so long as it lives amidst evil, by loving and following Christ is delivered from evil. But its following is the closer in those who contend even unto death for the truth. But to the universality [of the Church] is it said, “Follow me,” even as it was for the same universality that Christ suffered: of whom this same Peter saith, “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His footsteps” (1 Peter 2:21). This, then, you see is why it was said to him, “Follow me.”

Once again, Augustine reiterates the point that Peter represents the church, particularly in the form of a primacy, which no Orthodox would object to. Additionally, he argues that Christ gives the keys directly to the Church, not through Peter, but to the Church. However, Augustine is also making an ecclesiological argument, some of which I’ve highlighted in blue. He states explicitly that Christ and the confession of faith is the rock upon which the Church will be built, and that the Church is Peter. In short, Augustine is making the case that all bishops are successors to Peter. This sentiment echoes those of St. Cyprian of Carthage:

4. If any one consider and examine these things, there is no need for lengthened discussion and arguments. There is easy proof for faith in a short summary of the truth. The Lord speaks to Peter, saying, “I say unto thee, that thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” And again to the same He says, after His resurrection, “Feed my sheep.” And although to all the apostles, after His resurrection, He gives an equal power, and says, “As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto him; and whose soever sins ye retain, they shall be retained;” yet, that He might set forth unity, He arranged by His authority the origin of that unity, as beginning from one. Assuredly the rest of the apostles were also the same as was Peter, endowed with a like partnership both of honour and power; but the beginning proceeds from unity.Which one Church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, and says, “My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her.” Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church, when moreover the blessed Apostle Paul teaches the same thing, and sets forth the sacrament of unity, saying, “There is one body and one spirit, one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God?”

Take note that Cyprian explicitly states that the rest of the apostles were given like authority of both power and honor. Now many of my Catholic readers might notice something missing in this translation that I have taken from the CCEL above. Notably, the following words are missing from the excerpt:

And the primacy is given to Peter, that there might be shown one Church of Christ and one See; and they are all shepherds, and the Rock is one, which is fed by all the apostles with unanimous consent.

He who deserts the chair of Peter, upon whom the Church is founded.

According to footnotes 3110 and 3112 of the CCEL translation, the above excerpts are interpolated and spurious. In other words, it is missing from the earliest of manuscripts. I encourage the reader to click on the linked translation above and check the footnote for themselves. Not surprisingly, this bit of information is missing from Catholic Answers’ tract on Peter’s Primacy, whereby the make use of this obvious spurious interpolation for their own gains. Let’s look at the Latin from the PL:

The bold underlined blue segments are the interpolated and spurious additions to the text. The footnote linked to the portions state the following:

Uncinis includuntur haec verba ac spuria in notis dicuntur ab edd.

Within the brackets these words are included, and are said to be spurious in the notes by the editor.

et plures edd. Resistit, in Ecclesia Oxon.,

Many editors [have] “resists the Church, confesses to be in the Church himself?”

And if anyone doubts the sincerity of the editor referenced in the PL, his name was Étiene Baluze, an 18th-century Catholic secretary to a French archbishop. He also had minor orders. So any accusation of bias against him is unfounded. It would have been in his interest not to acknowledge the spurious interpolation.

Brief Addendum to the Cyprian Textual Tradition

As it turns out, my arguments in favor of the interpolation of Cyprian’s On the Unity of the Church have long been overturned. In short, there were two versions of the text, both written by Cyprian. The text with the segment “He who deserts the chair of Peter, upon whom the Church is founded…” is now known as the Version A, while the other is known as the Version B. As to the exact reason why and when Cyprian developed the later version of Version B, this point seems to be somewhat a matter of historical debate. However, what is absolutely clear from the current scholarship on the matter is that neither version of the text can in any way be properly understood as supporting a Catholic notion of Petrine Primacy (Papal Supremacy). Maurice Bévenot says that it is difficult to claim whether Cyprian meant that communion with Rome was a necessity for membership in the Church (Bévenot, 21). Nevertheless, Bénevot does attempt to argue that Cyprian’s behavior contradicts his Orthodox theory of church hierarchy (Bévenot, 34-35). But Bévenot’s theory partly depends upon the idea that Cyprian wrote Version B during his fight with Pope Stephen I, arguing that Pope Stephen I perhaps used Cyprian’s text against him. This argument is pure speculation, however, since as Bévenot himself acknowledges, there are no extant writings of Stephen’s concerning the baptism controversy (Bévenot, 33-34). More recently, Stuart G. Hall has argued that Version B was composed not during the Baptism Controversy, but originated during the Novation Schism in which Cyprian attempted to convince his own flock and fellow bishops of North Africa not to side with Novatian (Hall, 138-146). In short, Cyprian never changed his position in an attitude of rebellion against Pope Stephen. It is much more likely that Cyprian’s understanding of ecclesiology forever remained consistent, which was undoubtedly an Orthodox ecclesiology. As another Catholic scholar, Fr. Johannes Quasten, argues: Cyprian clearly understood the primacy as one of honor and that the bishop of Rome was primus inter pares (Quasten, 374-378).

To read up on this quite interesting issue, I suggest reading the following:

And he said to him: I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16: 18-19); so to speak he [Peter] alone receives the powers of binding and loosing. And since that one man [Peter] must have spoken for everyone, and since here he must have received [the keys] as the bearing person of unity itself; therefore one [receives] for everyone, because unity is in everyone [of the apostles].

Here Alcuin acknowledges that Peter is the first to be given this authority and thus bear unity. However, he also adds that unity is in everyone of the apostles. In other words, everyone of the bishops is a successor to Peter in a sense. Hence, all of the apostles have the keys directly from Christ. St. Bruno of Segni also says much the same:

Here in fact this statement is said principally to Peter, and it ought to be understood as being said to the rest of the apostles. And not only to the apostles, but truly also to the bishops and priests. In fact, the keys and powers themselves have been given by the Lord to not only will free the Church, but also to open the heavens to others.

The Second Argument: The Virtue of Being First and the Rock

I don’t intend on expounding much on this argument mainly because I feel that I have already made the case in my previous blog post that Peter is only the rock in a metaphorical sense. Sacred Tradition really doesn’t take the metaphor any further than a simple metaphor. Furthermore, the second argument states that all of the apostles were given the keys directly by Christ. However, if this were true, then I would like to ask such a Catholic then on what basis do they establish their understanding of primacy? The Orthodox understand the primacy of Peter, in general, as stemming from him being first as well. However, we do not take this to the extent that the Catholics do with Papal Supremacy.

And to the Catholic that professes this second argument, I must inform them as a former Catholic myself, that their understanding of the keys stands in direct conflict with Lumen Gentium, which states:

But the college or body of bishops has no authority unless it is understood together with the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter as its head. The pope’s power of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power. The order of bishops, which succeeds to the college of apostles and gives this apostolic body continued existence, is also the subject of supreme and full power over the universal Church, provided we understand this body together with its head the Roman Pontiff and never without this head.(27*) This power can be exercised only with the consent of the Roman Pontiff.For our Lord placed Simon alone as the rock and the bearer of the keys of the Church,(156) and made him shepherd of the whole flock;(157) it is evident, however, that the power of binding and loosing, which was given to Peter,(158) was granted also to the college of apostles, joined with their head.(159)(28*)

First, it should be noted that the word “alone” applies equally to “rock” and to “bearer of the keys.” Second, let us examine supplementary note #28. This note links to a variety of statements made during the First Vatican Council in the 19th century. These statements mostly have to do with explaining where the unity of the church is located, that is with Peter. Moreover, the document specifically refers to one of St. Leo the Great’s sermons:

The gates of Hell will not hold this confession, the bonds will not bind dead. Indeed the voice itself is the voice of life. And just as he conveys his confessors into heaven, thus he casts his deniers into the flames. Because it is said to the most blessed Peter: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whomever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whomever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19). He also transferred the same authority of that power to the other apostles, and the nature of this decree is commissioned to the all of the princes of the Church. But not in error is it confided to one, because it is communicated to everyone. Indeed for that reason is it believed singularly by Peter, because the form of Peter is preferred over the rest of the leaders of the Church. Therefore, the privilege of Peter continues, wherever itself a fair judgment is carried out. Neither is it excessive or severe or diminishing [to say that] nothing will be bound, or nothing will be saved, unless that blessed Peter saves and binds. Moreover, in his great passion, the Lord, when the steadfastness of his disciples was about to be thrown into chaos, said: “Simon, Simon! Behold, Satan has asked for you, that me may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren (Luke 22:31-32). A common trial was with all of the apostles concerning the temptation of fear, and in like manner were requiring the help of a divine protector, since the devil torments everyone, everyone was desiring to escape. However, the specific care of Peter is supported by the Lord, and in particular on behalf of the faith of Peter is it beseeched, so to speak the status of the other [apostles] may be more secure, if the mind of the prince (foremost one) has not been conquered. Therefore, in Peter the strength of everyone is secured, and thus the help of divine grace is ordained, when the vigor, which is given through Christ to Peter, is conferred through Peter to the apostles.

Right here Pope Leo I is making the case that the office of Peter continues and that authority and strength is delegated to the rest of the apostles through Peter. In other words, it is not something directly from Christ, but something from Christ through Peter. Therefore, the second argument is not in keeping with Catholic dogma. It puzzles me that a Catholic would try to make such an argument.

As for Leo’s statement itself, it directly conflicts with the ecclesiology mentioned by Augustine, Cyprian, and Alcuin. Instead of finding unity and authority in each bishopric, Leo seems to suggest that unity and authority is only sourced in the singular office of Peter. As for which ecclesiology someone wants to believe in, well I will leave that to the conscience of the reader. In the end, I have demonstrated quite clearly the all of the apostles received the keys directly from Christ and that to hold such a view is not in keeping with current Catholic ecclesiology.

I am glad that I can be of some help. Many blessings upon you as well. As a former Catholic myself, my own curiosity into was mainly sparked due to some differences in theological and pastoral outlooks. But really the deciding factor for me was the history surrounding the question of the papacy. This is why much of my writing has tended to focus on this question.

One thing I have realized during my writing of this blog has been that I haven’t cited much from secondary history sources as much as I originally intended. As such, I realize that my impact is likely to be very small. It takes a larger scope to be able to pull from secondary sources on the matter, than it does with primary sources. I hope in the future to amend this issue.

If you have any questions regarding Orthodoxy or would like some suggested reading materials, then please feel free to ask. Again, many blessings upon you, whatever your final decision may be.

I discussed the same topic, in far less detail myself recently. The sad part is that the RCC teaches that the Church has always taught “[i]t was to Simon alone” that Jesus called “the rock.” “And it was to Peter alone that Jesus…confided the jurisdiction of supreme pastor and ruler of his whole fold.”

Those who say “that this primacy was not conferred immediately and directly on blessed Peter himself, but rather on the church, and that it was through the church that it was transmitted to him in his capacity as her minister” are declared anathema by Vatican I.

Of course, such a claim is historically fallacious, roving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Rome does not have infallibility.

Interesting read. Yeah, there is a lot of twisting of words I have found with regards to how some have tried to respond to my original post on the matter. Many, as I have stated here, have tried to interpret the Father’s liberally insofar that because the pope has the keys, therefore the Church has the keys. Hence, Augustine doesn’t contradict Catholic dogma at all. However, a close reading of Augustine sketches out the definitions that Augustine was using, and it becomes quite clear that what he said, in fact, contradicts Catholic dogma.

With regards to Catholics recently attempting to argue more for collegial aspects of Catholic ecclesiology, well there are going to be severe limitations to what they can argue, mostly due to St. Leo’s strange views on ecclesiology. Lumen Gentium pretty much makes clear that the papacy is self-sufficient. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI stated many years ago, “This college [of bishops] cannot function without its head (the pope), while the head can quite well function without the college.”

“This college [of bishops] cannot function without its head (the pope), while the head can quite well function without the college.” And so, if I understand you right, this contradicts early church teaching that the Pope is first among equals, and derives authority as part of a body of Bishops, not exclusive to them?